Resemblance in Malayalam
None of these is the word a Malayali reaches for in conversation; everyday speech says that one person looks like another rather than naming the resemblance. In writing the nearest noun is പ്രതിസാമ്യം (prathisaamyam), which pairs the idea of likeness with that of equality.
Resemblance, equality.
ഇരട്ടക്കുട്ടികൾക്ക് നല്ല പ്രതിസാമ്യം ഉണ്ട്.
irattakkuttikalkku nalla prathisaamyam undu.
The twins have a close resemblance.
All Malayalam words for “resemblance”
- പ്രതിസാമ്യം (prathisaamyam) — Resemblance, equality.
- ഉപമിതി (upamithi) — Similarity, resemblance, equality.
- പ്രതിച്ഛായ (prathichaaya) — Reflection, image, picture, photo, similarity, resemblance.
- പ്രതിമ (prathima) — Image, idol, resemblance, symbol, measure.
- പ്രതിമാനം (prathimanam) — Specimen, sample, image, idol, resemblance, picture, shadow, the space between the two tusks of an elephant, weight.
prathichaaya, prathima and prathimanam are about an image or a likeness of a thing rather than the fact of two faces being alike, and upamithi is a term from logic and rhetoric for a drawn comparison.
Common questions
How do you say resemblance in Malayalam?
പ്രതിസാമ്യം (prathisaamyam) is the closest noun, though speakers usually turn the sentence around and say that X looks like Y.
Is there a single everyday word for a family resemblance?
Not really. Malayalam prefers a verb phrase about looking alike to any of the nouns listed here.